A whiskey adventure for you and me.
Log Date
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Old-fashioned Hyperlink
From A Genius Mixologist: The Only Ratio You Need For Perfect Cocktails >>
Co.Design has this article up with “master mixologist” Gabriella Mlynarczyk, a bartender at Ink, up. It’s a good read, so you should, but here are our tl;dr notes:
1. Stay true to a formula: The ratio for developing a drink is 2:1:1 - 2 ounces liquor, 1 ounce tart, one ounce sweet.
2. Choose a base note that will complement your liquor. (In her case, a variation on corn: popcorn & unaged white corn whiskey)
3. Whiskey’s more diverse than, say, vodka.
4. Add bitters. “Technically, in the classic cocktail world, a cocktail is not a cocktail unless it contains bitters.”
5. Or add complexity through rinsing the glass — a la the absinthe in a Sazerac, or with something like rosewater.
6. Five ingredients is probably a good max.
7. “Attentuate potency.” What the hell does that mean? Water it down. Dilute the drink down with infused soda water, or champagne (bonus absurdity points for calling it “effervescents.”)
8. “Attentuate mouthfeel.” And what the hell does that mean? Make it interesting. Alter the texture with egg white, or gomme syrup.
9. Measure. Don’t be insulted when your bartender is pouring your ingredients into jiggers; it’s to your benefit. “Cocktail making is very much like baking in that you need to measure every little ingredient or your balance is going to get completely thrown off.”
10. Always remember: stir spirits, shake juices.
11. The massive ice cubes are for more than aesthetics: they melt slower, watering down your drink less.
12. Try mezcal. It’s worthwhile.
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FOOD REPUBLIC: 35 New Ways to Mix an Old-Fashioned
Purists will tell you there is only one true way to mix an old fashioned—rightfully so, the drink has survived over 200 years with only slight disturbances to the recipe. (“Without the fruit salad, please.”) That didn’t stop Food Republic from dreaming up a few dozen ways to mix a cube of sugar, some ice cubes, and alcohol.
Notable:
1. Rye Old Fashioned: This is the classic, your granddaddy’s Old Fashioned. Take a sugar cube and dampen it with a couple dashes of Angostura bitters, then crush it. Toss in a couple big, beautiful ice cubes and top with three fingers of rye. Stir in the glass.
2. Bourbon Old Fashioned: Repeat the above steps, but with bourbon. In fact, we could enter seven or eight entries right here just for different bourbons, each of which will bring a different flavor profile to the drink.
5. American Trilogy: A few bars around New York City will make you this drink by local bartender Mickey McIlroy. It’s an Old Fashioned made with equal parts rye and applejack, and orange bitters. (All American products: get it?)
6. Orange Old Fashioned: Angostura might be the go-to bitters in the formula, but switch up your classic recipe with orange bitters for brighter aromatics.
14. Maple Old Fashioned: Same goes for super-sweet maple syrup, an ideal sweetener for any dark spirit Old Fashioned.
15. Honey Old Fashioned: Honey syrup is another sweetener you might try, perhaps with a lighter whiskey.
17. Mole Old-Fashioned: Make your favorite Old Fashioned, but with mole bitters for a chocolatey aroma.
35. Hot Old Fashioned: Ice is the traditional water component, but on a cold day, hot water will do.
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One spring(ish) day, a friend mistakenly ordered a “Montana Mule” rather than a Moscow Mule. Which prompted the thought: What would be in a Montana mule?
A few hours, a half dozen prototypes, and indeterminably googling the state fruit of Montana later (which maybe might be the cherry, possibly) we developed the Montana Mule after all.
Essentially a spin on a whiskey ginger with some bitters and the smoky taste of campfire, this drink is both strong enough and mellow enough for a late springtime afternoon.
2.5 ounces Bulleit
ginger beer (we used Reed’s)
9 drops angostura bitters
brandied cherry
the tiniest drop of scotch (we used Laphroaig)
served on the rocks in an Old-Fashioned glass
